JONES, THOMAS (1769 - 1850), Baptist minister
Date of birth: 1769
Date of death: 1850
Spouse: Ann Jones (née Richards)
Gender: Male
Occupation: Baptist minister
Area of activity: Religion
Author: John Thomas Jones
Born at Llangollen, he had his religious upbringing in the celebrated church of Glynceiriog. On his father's side he was descended from the Dôl Hir family of Glynceiriog. He and his neighbour, John Edwards, were ordained joint ministers of Glynceiriog 2 July 1794. By 1796 the views of Robert Sandeman had set the people by the ears and there was a schism in the church, one party under the leadership of Thomas Jones remaining faithful to the Old Baptists and the other under the guidance of John Edwards forming itself into a separate church within the connexion of John Richard Jones. Thomas Jones and John Edwards had also since 1795 been joint ministers of the Baptist church of the Vale of Clwyd, and in 1797 the split in Glynceiriog church spread to this church as well. Thomas Jones was the most fearless of all the North Wales Baptist leaders who opposed J. R. Jones and his firm stand proved fatal to the prospects of the latter's connexion. As in his own neighbourhood, and at Cefnbychan, he worked incessantly at Ruthin (where he had a meeting-house in 1801) and in the Vale of Clwyd. He married Ann Richards of Mathry in 1807, and was ordained minister of Rhydwilym, Carmarthenshire, 14 July 1808. Here he evangelized and built up the church for nearly two generations. In his sermons he eschewed the ecstatic shouting of the day; he was an exegetical preacher, a broad thinker, an Evangelical. His voice carried weight in the conferences, and he was popular in the preaching assemblies. Straightforward, earnest, and convincing, he taught, admonished, and expounded. He died 15 October 1850 and was buried at Rhydwilym.
Author
- John Thomas Jones
- E. Evans and E. Williams, Cofiant y Parch Thomas Jones, Rhydwilym (Llangollen 1854)
- Hanes y Bedyddwyr yn Nghymru, iii, 455-65
- John Absalom and Llwyd Williams, Rhamant Rhydwilym (Llandysul 1939), 1939, 48-9
Sources
- Wikidata: Q20734481
Additional Links
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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